Australia prop Benn Robinson has conceded defeat in his bid to play in the World Cup and will instead undergo surgery on a knee injury.

Robinson damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in training in July but had hoped the joint would have healed sufficiently for him to take part in the tournament which gets under way next month in New Zealand, but the 26-year-old admits he is not fit enough for the rigours of a World Cup with Wallabies coach Robbie Deans naming a 30-man squad on Thursday.

"I think after Tuesday when I ran around and couldn't finish the run, it gave me time to assess where I was at," Robinson told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I came to the realisation that (the World Cup) is a dream that is not going to come true."

Robinson was quick to shift his attention to playing in the next world Cup, to be staged in England in four years' time.

"In the next four years I'll be 30, 31, so the long-term goal is to make it for the next World Cup," he added.

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